


Horrible New Dimension

by Sammisel



Category: Gravity Falls, Invader Zim
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, MAYBE ZaDR - Freeform, Non-Intrusive Original Characters, ZaDE to ZaDF, adding characters to tags once they appear, it'll be more plot related later!, so dont worry kay?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-01 10:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16283135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammisel/pseuds/Sammisel
Summary: Dipper and Mabel, while investigating an anomaly occuring in the woods nearby the Shack, get sucked into a different, dark, horrible, disgusting, evil dimension. The dimension with a paranoid, delusional, sociopathic character, and a green alien! In there, they run into world-endy type trouble... will they be the ones to save it? Will that bespectacled weirdo be the hero? Or maybe will that lunatic spaceboy be the one? Who knows?! (Teen and Up for mild cursing, violence, etc...)





	1. Into the Horrible Unknown!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, all! This is my first fic! I really love Invader Zim and Gravity Falls, but it's been a little while since I've seen either. If any of the characters seem a little too OoC, tell me. I'll fix it. BTW, on the Gravity Falls part, it takes place around mid-season 2. I'd say a little bit after "Blendin's Game", but before Northwest Mansion Mystery. In Invader Zim... there's not really a fixed timeline, is there? It takes place after Zim finds out that Skoodge has been living in his basement for the last few months without his knowledge, though.

“Come on, Mabel,” came a squeaky, prepubescent voice. “I heard it from over here!”

“Ugh, Dipper, there’s nothing over here,” a lisped, more feminine voice responded. “we’ve been over this part of the woods like, a zillion times! It’s probably something like an electrical fence or something…”

Dipper, self-proclaimed supernatural researcher extraordinaire, only gave a small scoff. Mabel would follow him regardless of what he did, even if she did complain for hours. They were siblings, after all. So instead of saying anything further, he continued to trek through the underbrush towards the mysterious, perpetual electrical crackling noise that was in the woods nearby the Mystery Shack. They both knew their way around this part of the woods, however, for a certain pack of wild gnomes have claimed residence here.

After what seemed like many long seconds, the twins finally happened upon a clearing that held a giant, impossibly bright swirling portal. Desperately trying to exit the portal was a slender woman dressed entirely in a muddy brown ninja-like attire, but something from the other side of it was pulling her back. In her hands was a strange object that looked almost exactly like a dog bone colored black, which she struggled to keep a grip on as she slid further and further back into the portal from which she came. After a few more seconds of frantic struggle, she threw the dog bone with all her might into the woods, and slipped back fully into the portal. The portal closed.

“D… did you see that?” Dipper asked, not daring to look away from the site. His eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Uh, duh,” Mabel responded, less impressed. “I’m right here next to you, you dingus,”

“Schmebulock,” grunted a voice near the two. Dipper jumped back in panic, while Mabel just stood up and began to walk towards the dog bone. 

“Wh-… Shmebulock?” said Dipper, obviously not startled. “Uh, don’t just come out from nowhere, you really scared m-… Mabel,”

Without any hesitance, Mabel picked up the dog bone and began shouting at Dipper while waving her arms up and down.

“Hey, bro-bro! Check this weird dog toy thingy out!” she shouted at volumes high enough that perhaps the entire town could hear. Dipper, a little exasperated from her lack of caution, jogged over to her and closely inspected the bone.

It looked exactly like the cheap squeaky toy that one could buy at a supermarket, but in the middle of one of the sides was a dial, a number of miniature keyboard keys with indecipherable characters on them, and a screen. It kind of reminded him of-

“Hey, Dipper, doesn’t it kind of look like one of those really old phones?” Mabel noted. “Like, the suuuper old ones that Grunkle Stan would use,”

“Uh, I don’t think phones from the early 2000’s are that old, but yeah, it does look like a phone,” he muttered in reply. He pulled out the journal and thumbed through a few pages, trying to find the object in the book. “I wonder what it does…” 

“Maybe it calls aliens!!” she chirped excitedly. “Gimme it! I’m totally going to call me some hot alien boys,”

“M-Mabel, be careful! We don’t know what it is!”

Without any sense of self-preservation in mind, Mabel quickly snatched it from his hands and began rapidly punching in random keys. Dipper attempted to wrest it from her clutches but failed miserably as she tauntingly held it away from his every swipe. After punching in a few more keys, she turned the dial counterclockwise and held it to her ear.

Unfortunately, it was not a phone that called hot alien boys, nor was it a communicator in any way. Instead, it shot out a blindingly bright portal from the side that did not have the keypad on it, directly in front of them. The light swirled lazily in a counterclockwise motion. It was rather mesmerizing. 

“Whoa…” was all Dipper could muster. Mabel shielded her eyes from the brightness with the arm holding the dog bone and tugged on her pink and purple striped sweater, decorated stunningly with tiny kitten faces and glitter, with her other. They were both rooted to the spot, when suddenly Mabel grabbed Dipper’s hand.

“Eww, you’re all sweaty,” she giggled as she began to pull him towards the portal. 

“W-wait! Mabel! Wait!!” Dipper frantically yelped as he was tugged along, his sister too strong for him to escape. “I-it could be dangerous! Stop!! MABEL!!”

“C’mon, bro-bro! We gotta see what’s on the other side!” she said excitedly as she put a foot through the portal. Dipper struggled against her iron-lock grip to no avail.

“Don’t you remember what just happened to that other person that had this?” he tried to reason.

“Pshaww, that person probably just saw us here and gave it to us! Now shuuuuuush!”

“Mabel!!”

“Shhhhhhhhhh!!!”

It was obvious that she would not listen to anything that he would say, so he just allowed himself to be pulled into the portal. What a mistake that was! A mistake that he would be ruing for quite a while!

**Happening at nearly the same time, elsewhere…**

****

****

“You won’t get away with this, Zim!” shouted a bespectacled boy, pointing energetically at a certain green skinned boy, standing on the other side of the road.

“Oh, filthy stink child, I think I already have,” the alien said, with a manic grin spreading across his face. In his hands, which curiously had but two fingers and a thumb, was a wicked looking device. He pointed it directly at a building that was close by him. He pressed the button on the device and observed gleefully as the denizens that were occupying the building crashed out of the windows… and promptly exploded upon impact with the ground.

“Oh, err… that… wasn’t supposed to…” Zim said confusedly, stealing a quick glance at the Dib-human. Dib, at first, watched in horror as the people who fell from the building violently combusted, but then saw how the alien reacted.

“Are you serious, Zim? THAT was your next plan for world domination?” he asked incredulously. “Exploding some people? Let me guess – your stupid thingy device malfunctioned,” Zim fidgeted, then shot him a scathing look. Then began screeching.

“ZIM’S DEVICES NEVER MALFUNCTION!! THAT WAS… THAT WAS ON PURPOSE! ZIM MEANT FOR THOSE HORRIBLE PIG SMELLIES TO EXPLODE, YES!” he screamed, to which Dib covered his ears.

“Look, Zim, at this point, I don’t even care,” he looked at the device. It proceeded to explode in Zim’s hands. Dib smirked a little at the sight, but did nothing otherwise.

Zim, recovering from the blast, looked ready to explode himself. That horrid stupid Dib-stink! He had already been previously annoyed by GIR, well, annoying him. Now he had to deal with this sniveling, whiny, stupid, dumb, big headed stupid Earth monkey! Oh, his plans were going wonderfully well beforehand, but it seems that every single time that meddling dirt child steps in, every plan fails! He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“YOU! Earth smell!” he berated. “YOU SHALL GRANT ZIM WITH SILENCE NOW! Zim must leave. SO! BEGONE WITH YOOOOOUUU!!!”

“Why do I have to go if you are the one who said they have to…” Dib began, then stopped. “oh, never mind. Just go already, you’re being annoying,” He started walking away, leaving Zim to fume alone.

Zim scanned the wreckage that he had caused. A few broken windows, missing pieces of wall, and missing chunks of sidewalk. Not nearly enough to lift his spirits at all. His plan, after all that time wasted working on the perfect little mind control device, had failed. Not because of any outside interference, no, but by his own incompetence. There was probably a mistake in the wiring, or something like that.

He shook his head. Nothing was HIS fault. After all, he IS the AMAZING ZIM!! There would have to be new praises invented to suit him for all of his accomplishments. But, that comes later. For now, he had to either pick up from where he left off, a failed plan, or start a new one. Tossing aside a piece of scrap metal left behind from the exploded device, he sulked all the way home.


	2. City of Pure Dookie

The first sensation that hit them upon stepping out of the portal was the disgusting smell. It was unbelievably foul – not unlike swimming through a pile of festering garbage. Every breath taken felt like a powerful punch to the face. With that being the new welcome to the dimension, Dipper hardly wanted to discover the rest of it. Regardless, he pried open his eyes that he did not realize he shut.

The sight that greeted him was a dark and dingy cityscape, with skyscrapers blotting out almost any semblance of a sky with smog covering the rest. A sickening orange had replaced the previously lovely blue sky that he knew. There was only one word that could describe this new dimension: horrible. Disgusting. Terrible. Awful. That’s more than one word.

He quickly looked behind him for the portal and found that it had vanished in his stupor. Still stunned from the stench of the city, he plugged his nose and cast his eyes about for Mabel. He found her crouching near a trashcan. He ran over to her, getting pushed around by the other people walking nearby. Oh, right. There were other people. None of them seemed to notice the new arrivals, however.

“M-Mabel!” he whispered, interrupted by coughs. “Mabel, what a-are you doing? Are you okay?” His eyes were stinging and beginning to water. Breathing without choking on the air seemed impossible. She turned to look at him, revealing what she had been doing.

“Hey, bro-bro! Check out this dog!” she warbled happily, seemingly unaware of the evil horribleness surrounding them. The dog was a mangy chihuahua with eyes too big for their sockets, body covered in scars and ears almost chewed off. It blinked, one eye at a time, at Dipper. “Isn’t he sooooo cute?”

“Uh, sure, I guess,” Dipper managed to choke out. “uh, Mabel, do you, um, think we could get out of this place? It’s kind of, uh-“ He stopped talking, for she stopped listening. She was transfixed on trying to pet the dog without getting bitten. Sometimes, sometimes, Mabel was a real piece of work. He shook her shoulder, which made her turn around again to face him. As he opened his mouth to speak, the chihuahua bit down on the dog toy-portal-maker thingy and pulled with all of its might.

“Ah!! Bad doggy!!” Mabel shouted, and tried to wrestle the portal thing from its jaw. “Give! Give to Mabel!” 

Right as she put all of her strength into taking the dog toy from it, a large man bumped into them and shoved Mabel into a trash can. The dog, seeing its opportunity for escape, made a run for it and disappeared into the zombie-like crowds of people shambling along the sidewalks. Dipper, who was knocked onto the ground, jumped to his feet and sprinted over to Mabel, who was stuck head-first in the trash can.

“Mabel!! Mabel, are you okay?” he asked frantically as he pulled her out from the disgusting slimy garbage. “Oh, thank God…”

Her eyes were wide in shock, but her expression quickly reformed to be extremely affronted. She brushed off her sweater as best as possible, while Dipper removed the globs of garbage stuck in her hair. 

“I just made this sweater yesterday, too…” she lamented, noting how she could not remove most of the goop from it. “I spent like, a million hours bedazzling it with Candy…” Her shoulders shook slightly. 

“I-it’s okay, Mabel. When we, um, get home, I’ll help with the next one,” Dipper promised. That seemed to cheer her up, as she immediately gave him a big, smelly hug. He recoiled slightly from the stench of garbage, but hugged back.

“Thanks, Dipper,” she mumbled. Then, she noticed that the dog toy thing was missing. “uh, we don’t… have to go back right now, do we?” She tugged on the collar of her now-ruined sweater.

“What do you…” he looked closely. Gone. The thing was gone. “th-the portal device!! Where is it!? A-are we stuck here!? No, no no no…!” He was incessantly mumbling whilst pacing back and forth, somehow avoiding the other pedestrians.

“Calm down, you big old weirdo,” Mabel assured, somewhat to herself as well. “we’ll find another way! We always do, right? ‘Cause we’re the mystery twins!” Then she herself took a look around, face distorting into a frown as she saw the horrible sights. At least there wasn’t garbage piles on the streets.

Dipper, meanwhile, was calculating his next move. Should he ask someone for help? Maybe animal control, so that they could find the dog. Or perhaps a police officer. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to find that they were empty of content. No money, no identification, nothing. Not that he knew that this universe would even have the same rules. Who knew how things worked around here? Are there even police here? He scanned his surroundings to see if there were any identifiable uniforms, and, to his credit, found someone dressed as a police officer.

“Mabel, I think I found someone who can help,” he said, and began making his way towards the police officer. All of the sudden, however, the policeman sprinted away and tackled a child that was waiting at a nearby crosswalk for the traffic lights to change.

“THIS’LL TEACH YOU TO STAND AROUND DOING NOTHING!!” the police man shouted, putting handcuffs onto the crying and screaming child. None of the bystanders seemed to care or even notice at all. Dipper and Mabel stared dumbfounded at the sight.

“Uh, scratch that, I guess,” Dipper muttered. The struggling child had a muffler placed around his head, and was violently thrown into the back of a police car. The car drove off with a screech, immediately smashing into a car right in front of it. The two cars then exploded on impact, blowing away all of the pedestrians and other cars nearby. Luckily, the twins were outside of the blast range. The twins were unable to react, other than to watch in unmasked horror as the cars that were blown away smashed into nearby buildings, which then continued to explode there too.

Dipper picked up his jaw that had dropped to the ground, grabbed Mabel’s arm and dragged her quickly away from the scene. Stumbling behind a building, they tried to catch their breath as the sound of loud continuous explosions filled the air. Despite the horrific events occurring so close by, almost none of the bystanders seemed to care in the slightest, a couple of them even nonchalantly drinking a can of soda labelled ‘POOP.’ Only those actually in range of the explosions seemed to care enough to actually move away from it.

Finally, after a few minutes, the explosions died down, and the twins dared to peek from the side of the building at what remained. Somehow, with no explanation, there was very little actual damage done. The cars were, of course, flaming wrecks, and bodies were scattered about. However, the buildings only had cracks in them, or small chunks missing. Nothing more. Perhaps their structural integrity was so high that a measly car flying at hundreds of miles per hour into them was akin to a fly trying to headbutt a human to death? Dipper could not analyze the situation properly, as he was panicking.

“A-all these cars just exploded and n-no one cares!?” he hissed out at Mabel. “What kind of dimension IS this..?” Mabel’s only response was to shrug soundlessly. She was unable to assess the situation either. Moments later, some helicopter tow vehicles appeared and picked up all of the broken cars with long, tentacle-like robotic arms. Perhaps this was a common incident within this world? Then, an empty can of ‘POOP’ flew over and hit his head.

“Get a job, ya worthless bums!” shouted the can-thrower, who passed by quickly. This was too much. They were in this new dimension for what felt like hours despite it only being around half of one. Everything was so needlessly cruel. The residents, the city, even the very air around them seemed like it was trying to kick them while they were down. Worst of all, there seemed to be absolutely no possible way to return home. They were stuck there, in a dimension that hated them, with no resources and no way to acquire them. They knew no one here, they have no means of transport, or even reference for where they are. No one in their home dimension knew that they were gone or where they were gone. So, no outside rescue either. This is a nightmare.

At least they have each other.

 

**Happening somewhere close by…**

****

****

 

Zim, instead of working diligently on a new project, was seated upon his couch next to GIR and Minimoose, watching TV. The show? Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy, of course. Season 127, episode 94. In his opinion, the best episode. Why? Well, as any connoisseur of watching Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy would know, in this episode, something absolutely incredible happens. Shmoopsy, get this, bloops Floopsy. Stunning, really. It gets the viewer every time.

“Nyah,” squeaked Minimoose. Zim merely waved his hand, not even bothering to look away from the screen.

“Nyah!” squeaked Minimoose again, more insistent. Zim gave it a glare.

“Listen with your eyes, my adorable minion,” he grunted. “this re-run is a must see. That means that you MUST see it. Zim will not repeat,” With that, he leaned back even further into the couch. Minimoose tilted its head, then floated away into the kitchen.

“Oh, yes, good idea,” Zim called after it. “get more SNAAAACKS!” For some reason, it seemed that he wasn’t really into his yells today. They were dulled out, as if he was out of steam. 

GIR was attentively watching the show on the TV with all his might, not moving a single centimeter. This activity was endlessly exciting, of course. Watching a TV show that he loved with his master? There was almost nothing better, except for playing with piggies perhaps. Maybe tormenting the big head boy was a close third.

However, today, something seemed wrong with his master. He wasn’t yelling very much, or dancing around or scheming or even throwing things. This has happened before, of course, but it was uncommon enough to be noted. Well, whatever. His master would figure out what’s wrong, and fix it like he always does! Oh! The funny, colorful characters on the screen are blooping again! Can’t miss that.

Zim audibly sighed as he watched the characters bloop each other over and over. He had wasted hours just sitting there and watching this. After his miniscule failure with his latest invention, he didn’t seem able to muster up the motivation to start anew. The Dib-human didn’t seem to be very eager this time around either. In fact, he made almost no move to stop Zim, as if he knew that the device would fail regardless of his involvement. Every scheme he makes, no matter how ingenious and brilliant and wonderous and fantastic they are, always seem to fail. Or, if they work, nothing comes from it in the end and everything gets reset like it never happened at all.

He started thinking of the times when he did succeed at the small missions he created for himself. For instance, turning in the movie disc after fighting with the security human. That victory, however small, felt earned to him, and so he patted himself on the back for it. Figuratively. He would not move so long as the TV had something interesting to watch. And, that other time, when he fixed GIR’s behavioral chip. That had a happy ending. Or that other time when he defeated Tak in her foolish scheme to take HIS mission. Or that time when he stopped the planet jackers from taking the Earth. All of these accomplishments were so amazing, and so worthy of Zim. 

But, even so…

“Hey, Zim!” came a voice from the kitchen. “what are you watching? Is it good?” It was Skoodge. He took the toilet elevator from the base. Zim didn’t bother to reply.

“I guess it must be pretty awesome, if you’re so focused on it!” said Skoodge, walking into the ‘living’ room to see what was on the TV. “Oh, this again? Haven’t you seen it before?” Zim shifted a glare at him, but still said nothing.

“Well, alright! So, guess what happened!” No response. “You wouldn’t believe it! Tenn called! Well, she called me. But it is still good to know that she is alive!” Blink. Then – 

“Eh!? Invader Tenn? That worthless showoff?” Zim said, finally. “Why would she call YOU of all people?” 

“She wanted to tell me that her mission was going great!” he said, unphased by Zim’s brashness. “And that she hates you! Don’t know why, though.” He thought to himself for a moment, then proceeded to just smile at Zim. 

“Pff, why would Zim care for someone so unworthy of Zim’s time? Begone with you, you block the viewings of the television,” Zim made a shooing motion at Skoodge. Skoodge didn’t move, or let his smile drop at all. Zim is, of course, his best friend next to Tenn.

“Also, she said not to tell you this, but she found out that the Meekrob are –“ Skoodge began, but was interrupted by a look from Zim. It was the ‘go away now or I’ll destroy you’ look, which he often wore, but in this case was far more intense. Skoodge responded by just walking back into the kitchen with the same smile he always wore. In there, he began a conversation with Minimoose that Zim blocked out.

Turning on the next episode, which happened to be in the next season, season 128, he swept away all of his thoughts. Even though he did feel that something big was going to happen soon, he didn’t care. As long as someday, his mission would eventually be complete. For now, however, he just wanted to watch some TV. Destroying can always come later.

**Happening very close by…**

****

****

“Move, Mysterious Mysteries is coming on!” Dib said as he jumped onto the couch, next to his scary sister. “It’s the ghost toast with microwave powers special!”

Gaz only angrily growled and did not move. She didn’t have to. He would never dare to touch her, especially when she was ‘in the zone.’ No one would, now that she has the newest Vampire Piggy Slayer game, Vampire Piggy Slayer 4: The Revenge of the Swinies. Of course, no one would before either. She was a force to be reckoned with. She beat up anyone who dare annoy her, and sometimes for just being there idly. It’s because she was always annoyed.

She is the only sane person in this entire universe. She doesn’t care about stupid aliens that are stupid, and probably couldn’t take over the world even if there weren’t any obstacles. She hates that her stupid brother constantly was in her face, even after she threatens him. In fact, the only reason she ever bothers to listen to him at all is because he is willing to pay for it. With money. And broken bones. 

If it wasn’t for her stupid, idiotic, annoying brother, she would probably have been a lot happier. Or at least, she would be a lot less annoyed. From the moment she was born, he was always there, shouting about some stupid paranormal garbage. ALWAYS. And now that he has actual proof that aliens exist, he’s even more annoying. Always roping her into things that she doesn’t want to do, always talking to her about things she would never care about even if it was shoved into her face, always ruining her day and her plans for just about anything. 

The only person that she probably ever liked was her dad. Unfortunately, he’s never around. That might actually be part of the reason why she likes him – overexposure to her brother certainly never made her like him more. She knows that the Membrane family isn’t really real, of course. She knows that she and Dib are but clones of her dad, but she doesn’t care. She knows that stupid Zim is an alien, she knows that all this stupid paranormal stuff is real. She doesn’t care. She just wants to be left alone.

Of course, stupid Dib won’t leave her alone. Ever. Especially now. Now that he’s on the couch, shouting and hooting about the stupid show he’s watching. Something about toast or whatever. 

“Gaz! Hey, Gaz!” Dib suddenly said to her. Her grip on the game tightened. “Gaz, I figured it out!” She just noticed that he was holding a notebook in his hands. It had a bunch of scribbles written in it.

“Figured what out, Dib?” she asked through gritted teeth. This better not be about Zim again. That’s the only thing that Dib ever talks about anymore.

“I figured out Zim’s next plan when I was working in the lab today,” he started. Oh, great, it IS about Zim again. He launched into a one-sided conversation. “see, yesterday, I saw that there were a bunch of unusual readings in deep space. There were HUGE spikes of energy on my thingy-ometer, which usually only happens when Zim or another alien is flying around close by on a space ship. But when I looked out with my telescope, I couldn’t find his ship! So, I thought to myself, maybe he’s using some sort of invisibility field, or a cloaking device, or something like that. But only a couple hours later, I saw Zim himself going out of his house on my security cams, so I knew that that wasn’t him out there. So I followed him for a while and he was going down town with some sort of remote thing. It blew up in his face though, that was pretty funny. Anyways, so when I came back, the energy spikes dissipated! So it wasn’t Zim. No, it wasn’t Zim himself, but just another one of his evil plans! I’m SURE of it!”

She didn’t say a thing during the entire time he was talking. She wasn’t really listening either. His voice, however, WAS really grating on her nerves. Then, she saw an opportunity to make him look stupid.

“Didn’t you just say that you ‘figured it out,’ genius?” she said, thoroughly annoyed. He doubled back.

“Did I say that? Well, whatever,” said Dib, waving off her criticism. “you just don’t understand the gravity of this situation, Gaz. Those readings were off the charts! And I have some pretty big charts, you know,” 

Gaz didn’t want to hear another word come out of that stupid annoying mouth of his. So, she got up from the couch and left to her room, grumbling some threats about how she’d ‘rip off his stupid big head.’Dib just kept talking to himself, watching the TV.

As she sat down onto her bed, Gaz reopened her Game Slave 2 and began to block out the world around her again. However, even as she was doing so, she felt a pit in her stomach. Something big WAS going to happen soon. Something even she couldn’t predict, or do anything about.

Something was going to happen to all of them that would change their fates forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy! Didja have fun reading? Hope so! I'm trying not to make it too edgy or anythin' like that. However, the environment of Invader Zim, if you paid attention when watching it, is like, REALLY gritty and insufferable. I imagine that living in that universe would be pure hell. Seriously, like, everyone hates everyone there. So like, imagine a couple of happy-go-lucky kids were shoved into a place where literally everything is against them... I mean, there are a lot of examples of that outside of this, but you get it? Uh... yeah. Ok. Uh. Yep. That's... about it. Uh. Ok, I'll go write the next chapter now.


	3. Meeting Some Weirdos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii! Sorry, this took a while. Not cause I was working on it. Because I was procrastinating. I do that a lot. Hm. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Sitting against the wall of a building, Dipper and Mabel leaned against each other to try and keep warm as night began to fall. Throughout the afternoon, they had to deal with many passerbys throwing pieces of trash at them as they walked around the city, trying to find somewhere to stay. Not a single hotel would let them in, even if they did have money on them. Therefore, they had to settle down in a deserted alleyway. They didn’t have anything to eat, but Dipper at least had his journal with him, and Mabel had her trusty ‘Book of Guys That I Would Date’ to look at. She had said before that there weren’t enough pages in it.

“Wow, Mr. Paranoid didn’t bring his wallet or anything,” Mabel said sleepily, trying to lighten up the mood. “that’s a first, huh, Waddles?” She did a brief double take. “Oh, right…”

“D-don’t worry about it, Mabel,” Dipper stuttered, shivering slightly from the cold. “we’ll find some way out of here tomorrow, trust me on this,” They scooted a bit closer. Mabel was still wearing her smelly sweater, so she wasn’t as cold, whereas Dipper was wearing his usual vest on T-shirt attire.

As they began to drift to sleep, they heard a very distinct robotic… beatboxing? Dipper’s eyes opened in a flash while Mabel only mumbled something tiredly. Walking on the sidewalk was a tiny, bipedal green dog with enormous beady eyes that looked in different directions. Wait, no… the dog was merely a costume. It was singing extremely loudly to itself and intercutting its own song to beatbox as crazily as it could. While it was doing so, it was dancing erratically and fell over several times.

Dipper observed the strange sight, rubbing his eyes as to make sure that he was not dreaming. This city was very odd, but this took the cake. The weird green dog suddenly changed directions to begin dancing toward the alleyway they were in. Shaking Mabel slightly to wake her, Dipper wanted to be as far away as he could from the approaching… thing. Unfortunately, Mabel was extremely slow to wake, and the dog stopped walking right in front of them. Without even turning to face them, it continued to sing to itself.

Its singing was complete nonsensical gibberish that Dipper could not make heads or tails with. Suddenly, it screamed loudly and began to run in circles, giggling maniacally.

“YOU WANNA MAKE SUM MAYY YOO NAAAISE??” it yelled, grabbing onto Dipper’s face with its stubby ‘paws’. “YOUUUU WANNA MAKE SUUUM MAAAAYY YOOOO NAAAAISE????” Dipper could barely comprehend what exactly was going on. “It’s REAAAL GOOD with TURKEY! COME! LET’S HAVE A PLAY DATE AT DA MASTER’S HOUSE!” It picked up Mabel, held her over its head, and ran very quickly out of the alleyway. Dipper had no choice but to follow as Mabel struggled to awaken.

“Five more minutes…” she mumbled, stretching the sleep from her limbs. Then, she looked down, and saw that something in a tiny green dog suit was carrying her. It was a true wonder how she did not notice earlier. “Whoa, horsey! Where’re we going?” She was remarkably calm for someone in this situation. The only response she got was the weird green dog screaming gibberish as it ran. Dipper, having trouble keeping up, called out to her and the dog thing. 

“W-wait! Stop! Come back!!” he shouted, stumbling a couple times over his own feet and over the uneven roads. “Stop!!” He was beginning to run out of breath, when the weird dog instantly stopped at his second call. Not expecting that, he barreled directly into it, making it drop Mabel. She hit the ground a couple feet away, unceremoniously splayed out.

“Gah! What was that about!?” Dipper grumbled, trying to get off of the dog. It made no movements until he stood up completely. Taking a glance at his surroundings, he noticed that they were out of the down town area of the city, and instead was in a residential area. Nearby was a cul-de-sac lit with an odd green glow.

“Me n’ pig were out dancin’. You was at my faaaavorite place to eat crunchy lil rats!” the dog spoke, in a deranged yet somehow cute voice. It was still face down on the ground as it spoke. It rolled around to face him and gave him a big old smile, as best as it could with a costume on. 

“Uh… Rats?” was all Dipper could reply. The dog thing nodded vigorously, but seemed to be rapidly losing interest. Mabel picked herself up from the fall unphased, and trotted over to Dipper, careful to not trip over the green dog.  
She leaned in to whisper rather loudly, “Hey, Dipper, what kind of dog is that?” He shot her a look.

“Uh, Mabel, it’s not a dog…” he whispered back. “First of all, it’s green. Second, it talks. Third-“ In the brief period he took to explain, she had lost interest and was crouching near the weird dog thing. He pinched his nose bridge in exasperation. 

“Hiii dog!” she yelled.

“HI STRANGER!!” it screamed back, double to her volume. Dipper clapped his hands over his ears to avoid the ensuing screaming match.

“HIIII DOOOG!” 

“HIIIIII STRAAANGERRR!!!” 

As quickly as it had begun, it ended. The dog thing completely lost interest, and switched to eating a POOP can that was stuck halfway in the entrance of a gutter. It chewed through the aluminum extremely loudly, making sure that it was as annoying as it could possibly be. Mabel watched in fascination until her stomach growled quite audibly.

“I’m gonna go now. BYE-BYE!” it half-screamed, then started sprinting adorably towards the wickedly-lit cul-de-sac, its little black tail somehow wagging the whole way.

The twins watched as it turned the corner and tripped, humming to itself. As the sound faded out, there was a brief pause before either of them spoke.

“I like that dog, I wonder what breed it is…” Mabel said, smiling. This strange turn of events was a welcome one to the ones they were experiencing earlier in the day.

“It’s not a dog, Mabel,” Dipper stated. “and seriously, stop doing things like that!” 

“Oh, so you’re gonna lecture me? What did I even do?”

“You just ignored me! That weird thing could have been dangerous!”

“Dipper, what did you even do for me since you got here? You let that cute dog take the remote, you let that guy push me into the trash, and you let that green dog kidnap me when I was SLEEPING!”

“Are you serious? I was trying to rescue you the whole time! Didn’t you see me running after it? And the remote wasn’t even my… you’re shifting the blame to-“

“So it’s my fault, isn’t it? Like it always is? Mabel messed up this, Mabel ruined that! Not this time, Dipper.”

“Mabel…” he began, then suddenly happened upon a realization. This drama was completely unnecessary, and sort of out of character. This dimension… was it altering their behaviors? Either that or they were both just stressed out. He decided to take the easiest route, ensuring that nothing disastrous would occur due to a stupid argument. A bit hesitant, he looked at her expression. She was on the brink of tears.

“Mabel, I’m sorry,” he said, attempting to sound as genuine as he could. “it’s my fault, I was stupid. I won’t let anything else bad happen to you, okay?” For some reason, it was difficult to force the words out this time, despite him repeating such spiels many times in the past. 

“Okay…” she said, sniffling slightly. “but only if you mean it. Do you mean it?”

“Yes, I mean it, Mabel,” he responded, relieved to have the situation resolved.

“Okay, I’ll believe you, but only iiiif…” she thought for a moment. “Only if you take this!” She slugged his arm roughly, causing him to yelp and nurse the pained area.

“Mabel! What the-!” he bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything further. It was already the middle of the night and cold as the inside of a freezer. They didn’t need to waste any more energy with arguing. Instead, he shook off the pain of her rather strong punch, and walked towards the sickeningly green cul-de-sac, tugging Mabel along lightly. 

The source of the light was immediately obvious to be the dog thing’s home. If one could call that a home. Directly in the center, between two multi-story houses, was a lopsided neon green house. It was decorated with similarly mismatching windows on its front, and on its pastel purple roof sat an disproportionately enormous satellite dish. Not to mention the huge cables attached at the sides to both of the homes adjacent. The last thing that caught his eye was the eye-catching “I <3 Earth” sign placed in the grassy front yard. It seemed hardly welcoming at all.

“I’m going to guess that that’s where-“ Dipper began.

“THAT’S WHERE THE DOG LIVES, BRO-BRO!” Mabel interrupted, pointing at the weird house. “Maybe his owners are just as nice!” She flashed a toothy grin at him, a gesture that Dipper struggled to reciprocate. She then started walking towards the very ominous, unwelcoming house.

“Why are you so fixated on that dog…?” he asked tentatively, walking beside her. “Didn’t it just kidnap you? You, uh, kind of said that yourself… Mabel, we should probably focus on finding shelter or-“

“Blah blah blah! Where’s your sense of adventure, bro-bro?” she interrupted once more, her arms wildly gesturing. One almost smacked Dipper right in the face. “Ever since we got here, you’ve been sooooo boring! And I mean more boring than usual, like when you got your nose always stuck in that dumb book,”

“It’s not some dumb book! It’s the JOURNAL-“

“Shh! We’re here!” 

And they were. The twins stood at the entrance of the fence opening leading towards the strange house. However, what stopped their progress was the unnerving sense of danger emanating from the four garden gnome statues staring directly at them. They seemed to almost be alive, just watching their every movement. Mabel, not sensing the obvious danger, obliviously started towards the door, which caused the gnomes to activate. 

The creepy gnomes moved robotically towards Mabel, clay arms outstretched in attempt to apprehend the intruder. Not noticing them, she pushed one aside forcefully and stood at the door. Dipper, who did not follow suit due to knowing better, worriedly watched the scene. He would move in to rescue her when it turned dicey, he decided. With the gnomes right behind her, she stood on her tiptoes as best she could and pressed on the doorbell.

The door immediately swung open to reveal two humanoid robots, one wearing a tutu and hair styled into a beehive, and the other carrying a cigar in mouth and wearing typical dad attire. They grinned menacingly at Mabel, twitching and spasming with sparks coming off from every joint.

“WELCOME HOME, SON,” they said in unison, both jerking about and bending in impossible manners. It was at this point that Mabel noticed that something was wrong about this situation. 

“Uh, hello, mister and missus…” she said, backing away slowly. Unfortunately, directly behind her were the robotic gnomes, which grabbed her forcefully and began to drag her out of the yard. As she struggled valiantly, Dipper called out to her and tried to rescue her. His attempts, however, were thwarted by the gnomes shooting lasers at his feet through their eyes. An effective warning. They proceeded to dump her outside of the yard, and returned to their original positions. The door to the house abruptly slammed closed.

“Mabel, are you okay!?” Dipper asked, feeling unable to help her. He checked her over for any injuries, to which she had none. “Good, they didn’t hurt you…” As his relief wore off, he grew intensely frustrated. “Mabel, what was that? Why did you run towards that creepy house? We-we’re in a different dimension, you know! We don’t know what could happen! Stop doing this stuff! Seriously! It’s been like, what, only half a day, and you’ve done so much stuff to get both of us in trouble!” 

This time, Mabel didn’t have anything to say. She just sat on the sidewalk, leaning against the wooden fence, and looked down at her shoes. As Dipper continued to lecture her, she pulled up her smelly sweater to cover her head. Seeing that, he stopped his tirade and sat down near her.

“Okay, sorry… It’s been a really rough day, nothing’s been going right, we’re both cold and hungry, and yelling at you about it isn’t going to solve anything… Let’s just look for a place to rest for the night, okay? We’ll worry about finding something to eat in the morning, or something…” One good thing about having a sister like Mabel was that one got really good at reassurance and consolation.

Unfortunately, the events of the day were wearing on her, and she did not immediately perk up at his kind words. She simply pulled down the sweater that was covering her face and allowed Dipper to lead her towards a new destination. Dipper, of course, was feeling almost as terrible as she was. However, as he was the responsible sibling, he could not let any of this bear down on him. He would be the pillar of light in the darkness, for as long as need be. Until rescue arrived. Until they were found… somehow. He didn’t dwell on how they would get back. Thinking about being trapped here forever would cause him to be truly defeated. So, instead, for now, he’ll be confident and be the leader.

Not wanting to rest in another disgusting alleyway but out of options to pick from, they found a group of thick bushes to shield themselves from the wind. Unfortunately, the grass nearby was frosted over almost completely, so laying atop it was uncomfortable at best. It was better than anything else he could think of at the time, however, as the other options would be to sleep on a sidewalk, in a dark alleyway filled with vile garbage and rats, inside a gutter with who knows what unmentionable stuff is in there, or on the road itself. So, yes, sleeping on top of frosted grass was their best bet. With any luck, they wouldn’t be found by police and “escorted” off the premises. 

Laying next to Mabel, who was still sulking, he shivered violently. Was it always this cold? It was difficult to sleep, and there wasn’t enough moonlight to read from the journal. The journal! He sat up, and frantically checked his being. Gone. He must have dropped it somewhere… but to retrace his steps would be nigh impossible at this point. Did he drop it during the chase with that dog? He knew that he still had it when they were in the alleyway, because he read a few passages from it with the street light. He began to hyperventilate. That was one of his only prized possessions, and especially so as it was a reminder that he did indeed come from a dimension different to this one. Not that he could forget, of course, but still.

He stood up and began to pace fervently back and forth, which caused Mabel to grumble and roll to her other side. He desperately wished to search for it now, but even he knew that attempting such an endeavor would be stupid, being that it was the dead hours of the morning and that he was exhausted. And hungry. He plopped back onto the frozen ground, chewing absentmindedly on one of his fingernails. No point in staying up for the rest of the morning just worrying about something that he could not fix. With that, he laid down near his sister, and tried to sleep.

 

DAYBREAK

 

The morning sun broke through the clouds and gave the sky an unpleasant orange tint. Dipper, who stayed up all night worrying about his journal among other things, felt as if a knife of pure light stabbed through his eyelids. Unaffected by this was Mabel, of course, ever the heavy sleeper. She was kicking about like a dog having the ‘running dream.’ The first thing that he felt upon “waking” was the rumbling of his belly. Breakfast from yesterday, which were shoddily made pancakes in the shape of Grunkle Stan’s face, “Stancakes” as he called them, seemed to be a distant memory. He shook his head and ushered Mabel awake. 

“Hrrmm… Dipper?” she mumbled, eyes still closed. “My bed doesn’t feel as comfy as usual…”

“Wake up, Mabel,” said Dipper. “we’re going to find something to eat, then a way out of this dimension, today.” Although he said that, he was not confident.

“Maybe later… sleep now, leave dimension after…”

“Mabel, please, get up.”

The bushes rustled loudly. Dipper quickly looked to see what made the noise. It was a kid, who seemed to be around their age, but had a distinctively large head with an enormous pair of glasses on them. His fashion made it obvious that he was a little strange – a black trench coat and a blue shirt with a frowny face on it. Sort of like an… investigator of some sort?

“Oh, I didn’t expect anyone else to be here,” the new kid said. “excuse me, but who are you two? Why are you in my spot?” He seemed to be a bit impatient.

“Uh, sorry, I-I didn’t think that this spot belonged to anyone…” Dipper replied. “I’m Dipper, and this is my sister, Mabel.” He gestured to Mabel, who was in the process of slowly waking up. “If you don’t mind me asking… what’s your name?”

“I’m Dib, paranormal investigator expert. Although I’d be surprised if someone like you would believe me about the things I talk about,” Dib introduced himself. He leaned in a little closer. “They’re all real, you know. The supernatural. Don’t let them fool you!” Dipper nodded, shying away slightly. What a strange boy.

“I believe you… I’m pretty into supernatural stuff myself,” mumbled Dipper, as more of an off-hand comment than anything else. Right now, he was more focused on trying to quiet his belly.

“You do? Really? You really…” Dib’s eyes glimmered, but then immediately switched to distrust. “No, wait. You’re just screwing with me. Everyone does that. I’m not trusting anyone again, not after Dwicky.” He seemed to be adept at rambling. Dipper had no idea what he was even talking about anymore. 

“Uh… no, I believe you, I had this journal that detailed a lot about supernatural beings, but I lost it somewhere…” Dipper stopped himself. Why was he divulging such information to someone who seemed to be insane? At least the guy wasn’t being rude, or attacking them, like everything else in this dimension was. Dib’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, but let it go.

“Well, anyways… Do you go to Skool here? I don’t recognize you,” asked Dib. He seemed to be pretending to be interested, but his body language said that he wanted them to leave. 

“We’re… new here, so no, we don’t attend the school here,” Dipper responded. Then, he thought of something. “hey, um, I don’t mean to impose, but is there somewhere we can go to eat? We… don’t have any money.”

“No money? What, your parents don’t give handouts?”

“Do you… mean an allowance?”

“Yes, that.” 

“Uh, no… we’re away from our parents for now…”

“So you’re expecting me to give you money? Well, it’s good news for you that I brought some with me today, and that I have nothing to lose from this. Here, take it.” He handed Dipper a wad of cash. Dipper’s eyes bulged. That single wad of cash had over $200 in it.

“A-are you serious? I can’t take this from you!”

“You can’t? That’s fine with me, I’ll take it back.”

“Huh? No, no! I was just being… Thank you, Dib.”

“No problem. Uh, as for somewhere to go eat, I’d say the closest place to go would be MacMeaties. I don’t personally like it, but my sister does. So, anyways, can you guys get out of my spot now? There’s fate of the world business to be done now.” Dib pointed at the ground they were resting on.

Dipper looked at where Dib was pointing, then at the wad of cash in his hand. He hasn’t seen this much money in one place in quite a while. Mabel, the slowpoke she is, finally stood up. Then, she noticed the newcomer. It was evident that she saw no appeal in his physical appearance from the look on her face.

“Heyy! Are you Dipper’s new friend? Omigosh, Dipper! You finally made a friend! What’s his name?” chirped Mabel, apparently unaffected by any lingering tiredness. Her cheerful tone made Dib wince.

“Uh… This is Dib,” he gestured mildly towards the person in question. “he is…” He struggled to think of a description. “He’s nice.”

To that, Dib stepped towards Mabel and outstretched his hand. She squinted curiously for a moment, then shook it excitedly.

“Hiii! Nice to meet you, Dib!”

“The… pleasure is mine.” 

She leaned in towards Dipper and whisper-yelled, “he’s almost as uptight as you are, bro-bro! I think you two will get along AWESOMELY!!” Dib winced once more at her loud voice.

“You… can let go of my hand now, Mabel,” said Dib cautiously.

“OH!” Mabel giggled. “Sooorryyyy! It’s just that everyone in this dimension is so grumpy and mean and stuff, you’re really the first nice person we’ve met!” Dipper’s look could not be more scathing. Dib’s interest, however, was piqued.

“This dimension? So you’re not from my dimension?” he questioned. “Are you two some sort of dimension hoppers? Are you even human? Answer!” 

“Pfft, you dummy! Of course we’re human! Right, bro-bro?” she said, wrapping her arm around Dipper’s neck. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Let… let me handle this, Mabel…” Dipper said, exasperated for the umpteenth time since they arrived in the new dimension. “Uh, yeah, we’re human. And, yes, we aren’t from this dimension,” Dib seemed as if he was going to interject, so Dipper tried to conclude what he was saying first. “BUT! We didn’t really… come here on purpose, uh, it’s a long story, you know, and…” Dib waited for a moment after Dipper stopped talking.

“And? Skool’s out for winter break. I’ve got time. Why don’t you explain yourselves right now?”

Dipper somehow looked even more uncomfortable, and Mabel just grinned sheepishly. Then, after much hesitation, he told the story as best he could. Mabel, being Mabel, often interjected with her own version, before being shushed by Dipper. It took a couple minutes, but they were finally done.

“Yeah, I’m not believing that,” said Dib without any semblance of hesitation. “that sounds like you just made it up on the spot.”

“Look, I don’t how to convince you, but this is 100% true!” Dipper pleaded. “Even if some of the details might sound a bit weird, it’s because it is! And because I am very tired and hungry.” His stomach rumbled in agreement. Dib narrowed his eyes even further, and he was about to drag on the conversation longer until Mabel decided to step in.

“Heyy! I know that you two nerds are having a ton of fun nerding it up here, but I’m super hungry!” she took quick notice of the wad of cash that Dipper held in his hand. “Omigosh, bro-bro! How did you get that much money!? I wanna see!” She then tried to take it from him, but Dipper fought to keep it.

“Mabel, no!” he said, struggling against Mabel’s absolute strength. “We can’t afford to lose this, and we both know that you’re going to… uh… sorry, Dib. I don’t mean to argue in front of you, and I don’t think our conversation is going anywhere. Um, could you point us in the direction of the McDonald’s you mentioned?”

“Actually, I think I’ll take you there myself. And in this dimension, it’s MacMeaties.” 

“Uh, right. MacMeaties. Um, you don’t – Mabel, stop! – You don’t have to take us, just please give directions, we can find – Mabel, seriously! – we can find it.” Mabel finally stopped fighting to have a peek at the money.

“No, I think I’ll take you there,” Dib said, with a devious smirk adorning his features. “I think that you two would get lost otherwise, no? Come along, I’ll show you the way.” He outstretched his hand towards Dipper, who very gingerly took it. 

 

Elsewhere…

 

Zim, who was actually working on a new project, didn’t bother to look up when he heard GIR’s squeaky footsteps enter the lab. His antennae did twitch, however, when GIR began to scream about his day.

“I FOUND SUM NEW PLAY FRIENDS, MASTER!” he shrieked in joy. He unzipped, then shook off his costume as he ran erratically around the lab. “YOU’D LIKE ‘EM TOO! YOU’D GET ALONG LIKE MILK AND HOTDOGS!” To that, Zim’s ever present scowl deepened.

“GIR, go watch TV or something,” he said, not wanting to deal with GIR at the moment. He was concentrating, for Irk’s sake. “Don’t bother your BRILLIANT master while he’s working.”

GIR ignored Zim’s orders, of course, and began flying around the room with his cute little jetpack feet. All the while, he was screeching incomprehensively. It seemed that he was extremely excited about something, to which Zim did not care an ounce for. However, his incessant screaming WAS getting on Zim’s nerves.

“GIR, MUST I repeat myself? GO, NOW!” Zim ordered, more sternly this time. Again, GIR ignored him.

“Maaaaasterrr, they wasn’t normals doee! Dey was like a squirrel on a beaver house!” 

Zim’s eye twitched in annoyance. Fine. The only way to make GIR go away was to indulge him.

“Not normal? On a planet filled with filthy, pathetic, not normal humans? Why do you waste Zim’s time with this pointless talkingness?” he growled, looking at GIR instead of his all-important project.

“Dey wasn’ts from heeere!” GIR giggled. “Dey was… Oooh, what’s that?” Distracted by Zim’s project, he immediately forgot about what he was saying. Used to GIR’s rapid change in behavior, Zim answered without skipping a beat. 

“It’s not finished yet, but even you could detect its MAGNIFICENCE, yes? This new AMAZING machine that I, THE INCREDIBLE ZIM, is making, is…” he paused for a moment for dramatic effect. “a DIMENSIONAL HOPPING DEVICE! I made it myself.”

“OOOOOH!” GIR admired the unfinished device for half a second, then sprinted towards the elevator and flew up instead of actually taking it. As per usual, he was screaming the entire way. Shaking his head, Zim immediately went back to work. 

“Computer, what is the estimated time remaining on this device’s completion?” he asked.

“12 hours, 48 minutes, 22 seconds. But seriously Zim, don’t you remember the other time you did something like this?” the Computer warned. “It didn’t go very well, if memory serves.”

“SILENCE! I will not take any of your foolish backtalkedness!”

“Oh, fine. It’ll just blow up in your face like every other time.”

“SIIILEEENCE!!!!!”

So, the Computer sighed and fell silent. It knew exactly what was going to happen. Either it would literally blow up in his face and destroy half the universe, or it would miraculously work and send him to another dimension. Forever. Because that’s how everything works when it comes to Zim. It didn’t even know why it tried at all.


	4. MacMeaties... is Gross

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They all meet here!! I hope that this isn't moving along too slowly. It's like a slow burn or something. That's what it's called, right? Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!

“Here we are,” announced Dib. The party had arrived at the MacMeaties after about twenty minutes of walking. The first thing that the twins noticed was the huge sign out in front.

“Eight billion served? Is that how many people there are in, uh, this world?” asked Dipper tentatively. 

“No, I don’t know why it says that,” replied Dib. “there’s six billion on Earth right now, give or take.”

Without further comment, they entered the fast food restaurant. As soon as the door was opened, an absolutely horrid wave of stink attacked the twin’s noses, to which even Mabel seemed about to retch at. The entire place was almost too disgusting to describe. Grime covered almost every surface, even the ceiling. The seats and tables were covered in unknown stains, seemingly never been cleaned before. At the ordering counters were several plump, irate men, slamming their fists onto the counter in impatience as they waited for their orders. 

“You’ll get used to it, probably,” muttered Dib. “this is the best it that it gets.”

He pointed at the menu behind the ordering counter.

“You both said you were hungry, right?” he asked. “Well, choose what you want and I’ll order it. Then, we’ll sit at a booth, and I’ll ask you guys some questions.” At least he was being courteous.

The twins looked at the menu. Absolutely nothing seemed appealing in the least. Ham-in-a-Cup, Horse Burger, T-Steak Shake, Pork Rind Sundae… Dipper shuddered in spite of himself. Mabel looked as if she was going to be sick.

“Uh…” Dipper said, obviously hesitating. “I’ll… have the… bologna pie slice, I guess…”

“Bologna, huh…?” Dib shuddered due to a memory, then turned to Mabel. “and you? What do you want?”

“Imma pass, this stuff looks like it tastes worse than a rotten Stancake…” she murmured. 

“Just get her what I ordered, I guess,” said Dipper, stepping in for her.

“Right. Classic POOP or Diet POOP?” Dib asked, making sure. The line finally moved a few inches closer. “Before you ask, it’s a soda brand name.”

“Um… D-Diet POOP, I guess? For both of us,” 

“Okay. You can’t go to a booth until you pay for the food, so you have to stay here for now. Line takes a while, so be patient.” 

“…Okay…”

 

ABOUT TWO HOURS LATER OF WAITING IN LINE…

 

Finally after paying for their order, they received it almost instantly. It smelled just awful. Mabel was practically dead on her feet, as trying to be patient for so long had short circuited her. Dipper was less exhausted, but Dib seemed completely unaffected.  
“Okay, follow me to the booth now, and I’ll start asking some questions,” he said matter-of-factly.

And so, Dipper and Mabel dragged themselves after him, carrying their respective ‘meals.’ He led them to a relatively clean table, with fewer stains than the rest. He was about to sit down when he noticed that someone was already sitting there before him.

“Huh? Gaz?” Dib exclaimed, surprised. “What’re you doing here?” She was busy playing a loud game on a device she was carrying labelled the GS3. She didn’t answer his query, too focused on what was in front of her than her stupid annoying brother.

“Is that someone you know?” asked Dipper, who was supporting Mabel from falling over. 

“Oh, yes. This is my sister, Gaz,” he explained. “she might look scary, but she’s nice after you get to know her!” Somehow, Dipper doubted that statement.

“Uh, hello,” Dipper greeted. Gaz said nothing and growled, turning away to focus harder on the game. Mabel, hearing that they were meeting someone new, perked up immediately and happily waved at the scary goth girl.

“Hiii, Gaz!” she said cheerily. Gaz cracked a single eye open to glare menacingly at the peppy girl, who was flashing her a full grin with braces.

“What do you morons want?” she grumbled, actually pausing her game for once in her life. Dib’s eyes widened as he saw the unusual occurrence.

“Gaz, these two are from another dimension! Can you believe it? A whole other dimension!” he said loudly. Her grip on the GS3 tightened considerably as she was internally debating just beating him up so he would go away. Seeing this, he quickly handed her a $100 bill. The twins’ eyebrows went up in unison as they watched their interaction.

“Hm. Okay. And?” said Gaz, calmer after being given money. They all sat down at the booth, albeit hesitantly due to the amount of disgusting stains on the seat cushions. They soon discovered that the cushions felt more like stone than cotton.

“And that’s crazy! I haven’t even thought of the multiverse since that one time I got trapped in the nightmare realm in my head,” continued Dib, unfazed. Neither of the twins decided to comment on what he just said.

Mabel leaned in towards Dipper and whispered as quietly as she could manage, “I think this guy is a little bananas…” Unfortunately, she did not know how to properly modify her volume, and so the other two heard it. 

“Yeah, you and everyone else. Join the party. Whatever,” mumbled Dib defensively. Then he switched gears. “Alright, you two. Spill everything, and this time don’t make stuff up. I know when something’s real and when something isn’t.” To that, Gaz snorted and unpaused her game.

The twins exchanged glances.

“Uh, we already told you everything, I’m not sure what else you want, Dib,” Dipper said, trying to talk over the sounds of Gaz’s max volume gameplay.

“No, you didn’t. Here, let’s strike a deal,” he responded, holding out a hand. Dipper looked at it with extreme distrust from previous experience. “Information for information. I’ll tell you about what’s happening here if you tell me the absolute and whole truth about yourselves and how you got here.”

Ever so hesitantly, Dipper shook hands with Dib. The deal was sealed.

“I guess I’ll start, then,” said Dib. “so, a couple years ago, I heard a transmission from some aliens on the roof of my house. I guess I should say that I’m pretty much a paranormal genius. Every night, I’ve been searching for transmissions just in case, and then I heard one one day! So then about six months later, a real alien arrived…” 

 

ABOUT THREE HOURS OF EXPLAINING LATER…

 

“…and that’s where I am now. That’s the whole story. Now, it’s your turn,” he finished. Mabel was fast asleep, and Dipper felt like tearing out his hair. To make Gaz stay, Dib had periodically given her $100 bills throughout the whole explanation. His wallet was empty now.

“Uh… great… story, Dib…” said Dipper, awash with immense relief. “you, uh, really left nothing out, huh…” He gently nudged Mabel awake.

“Yep. It’s my specialty, if being a paranormal investigator wasn’t already it,” said Dib proudly. He even puffed his chest out, as if Dipper had complimented him.

“Uh, right… So it’s my turn to explain about myself?” he asked.

“That’s correct. And hurry up, I want to be back home before the Mysterious Mysteries special.”

“…Okay, well, I’ll try to tell it as best I can…”

 

FIVE MINUTES OF EXPLAINING LATER…

 

“…and that’s how we got here. Um, was that good enough?” finished Dipper, giving a nervous smile. Dib looked as if he was going to yawn, and Mabel, again, was fast asleep with her mouth wide open, snoring extremely loudly.

“You just told me the same thing from earlier, but in more detail,” Dib pointed out.

“Well, yeah, because that’s what really happened! I don’t know what else you want!”

“Hm. Well, I guess I’ll believe you. You two do seem harmless, after all.”

“Thank you, finally…”

Gaz looked up from her game. It was out of battery.

“Hey, if you idiots are done being stupid and annoying, I’m going home,” she announced, glaring specifically at Dib. “and, Dib? You’re going to pay for making me listen to you for this long, you know that, right?”

“But I was paying you the whole time!” he protested. He showed her his empty wallet. She slapped it out of his hands, and it burst into flames. He gazed sadly upon the ashes.

“I mean that I’m going to destroy you,” she redefined her statement. “no amount of money is worth having to listen to your horrible voice for hours.” Her fists were clenched and white with fury.

“But…” he began, then stopped when he noticed that Gaz was harnessing the dark, scary power of the goths. “alright, let’s just go, I guess.” 

Dipper, who witnessed the entire event, said nothing, but felt sudden gratitude towards his own sister. Mabel woke up once more, stretched out, yawned, and stood up.

“That was an awesome nap,” she stated. “oh, are we leaving?” She looked at her food. It was untouched.

“Yes, we’re leaving,” said Dipper, giving her a smile. “and, uh… I’m glad that you’re my sister, Mabel.” To that, she gave him an odd look, but grinned regardless. Dib, who inadvertently listened to their minor exchange, raised an eyebrow. He was unused to kindness in any form, it seemed.

And so, the group left the restaurant without further discussion. 

 

LATER, ELSEWHERE…

 

A few hundred feet below the Earth’s surface lay… the laboratory. Zim’s secret base. On a dangerous, foreign planet filled with tall but stupid two-legged pig monkeys, otherwise known as humans, this was his only sanctuary. Well, at least whenever that big-headed child wasn’t stalking him, or watching him through secret spy cameras. That type of thing happened too often to count it individually. 

During his routine security scan, the Computer alerted him that it had only found three spy bugs. Less than the norm, but not too unusual. Perhaps the Dib-human just didn’t get the opportunity to place them yet. Besides the point. 

“Computer, destroy the bug tracky devices,” he ordered. “and, give Zim the time remaining on his INGENIOUS project.” His antennae twitched slightly as he heard several minute explosions occur. Must be the bugs being removed.

“Ingenious project ETA: Complete,” the Computer replied, mechanical voice dripping with sarcasm. “Zim, leave the base before you use that thing. When it blows up, I don’t want to be one of the casualties.”

Zim, as per usual, completely shut out anything that the Computer had to say, and snatched the finished device from the mechanical workbench. Beautiful… It looked not too much unlike the remote that he had used to control GIR’s temperament that one time, except that it was colored purple. It had a dial in the center, a screen above it, and a keypad for typing in coordinates. Zim smirked evilly. With this, he could tap into unimaginable powers and weapons from other universes. 

“Though it pains me to admit, perhaps those other dimensions will have something more advanced than the almighty Zim could produce,” he said loudly, to himself. “Perhaps even more advanced than those filthy Vortians, too!” He rubbed his hands together proudly, evidently pleased at his own genius for thinking of such an amazing plan.

“After you’re done monologuing, remember to use that OUTSIDE of the base,” said the Computer, unimpressed. “FAR outside, the explosion radius could engulf the entire-“

“SILENCE! You interrupt Zim’s BRILLIANT scheming! Useless bucket of bolts!” snapped Zim. However, he grabbed the device, donned his disguise, and went upstairs. He saw Skoodge, GIR, and Minimoose sitting on the couch, completely enamored with what was on the TV screen. Skoodge, however, turned towards Zim as soon as he heard him begin walking towards the group.

“Oh, hey Zim! That project of yours sure took you a while,” said Skoodge, waving nonchalantly at him. “is that it, in your hand? That remote? Looks cool, Zim!”

Zim ignored him. He doesn’t know why that annoying freeloading showoff is in his base. GIR turned around to look at him and waved energetically. Minimoose did nothing save float in place.

“What does it do, Zim? Are you going to go test it?” Skoodge pestered. “Can I see?”

Zim, walking past them, tightened his grip on his new device. So annoying. Unfortunately, Skoodge decided to get up from the couch and follow him outside. GIR, thinking that something more interesting than what was on the TV was going to happen, followed as well. Minimoose just continued to float lazily.

“Are you going to go outside… WITHOUT YOUR DISGUISES ON!?” snarled Zim. “BEGONE! Else you fools will be a danger to my MISSION!” He proceeded to pick up Skoodge with a single hand and throw him violently back into the base. With a loud crash, he collided with the wall and broke chunks of it. GIR, who was also without disguise, gave Zim a vacant grin. Eye twitching in annoyance, he simply kicked the little android into the base, but not as roughly. The door slammed close.

Now free from hinderance, he began to trot along the sidewalk. He had to locate a suitable area to use it, of course. His own base or near it would not be an option, as he vaguely recalled the previous time that a device he created exploded. He ran through previous locations that he visited in his mind that may be usable for this purpose… the skool? No, it was closed for some reason. Library? Too populated. That also held true for the entire human city… 

Then, a devious idea struck him. If the device was possibly faulty, and could explode, what if he tried it near the Dib-human’s home? Imagining the resulting explosion, destroying the human’s shelter and possibly the human himself, made him chortle evilly. Unfortunately, his day-dreams were interrupted by an annoyingly polite voice calling to him.

“Heyyy Ziiiiim! We got our disguises on! And we brought Minimoose too!”

“Nyah!”

“Yeah, you tell him!”

Zim, understandably aggravated, slowly turned to face them. They were indeed in their disguises. Skoodge’s looking quite similar to Zim’s, GIR in his classic green dog suit, and Minimoose in… he doesn’t need a disguise. Seeing as ignoring them would not accomplish anything, he simply stood there and waited.

“Hey!” said Skoodge once he caught up to Zim, out of breath. “S-so where are you going to use it?”

“None of your filthy business!” he growled. “Begone! My amazing scheme needs no Skoodge help. You too, GIR. Minimoose can stay, though.” He turned back and started walking away once more.

Ignoring Zim’s rudeness, Skoodge and co continued to follow him. GIR, who was amusing himself by squeezing a plushie of a moose, was strangely quiet. A welcome change. However, there was a bothersome pest that wouldn’t shut his stupid braggart mouth of NOISE!

“So Minimoose, what do you think is going to happen?”

“Nyah.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that. It looks more like a teleportation device to me.”

“Nyah?”

“Oh, I’ve seen similar machines many times before. I even made a couple myself!”

“Nyahh???”

“Yeah, well, of course I don’t look like an engineer. I’m short and ugly, as the Tallest say. But how else do you think I conquered Blorch so fast?”

“Nyah.”

“Gee, thanks… You’re pretty cool yourself, Minimoose!”

It was unfortunate that Zim could not block out their excruciating yammerings. It was irritating him to no end. In fact, he just about reached his limit.

“BE QUIET ABOUT CONQUERING BLORCH! You got LUCKY! LUCKY I SAY!!” Zim screeched, unable to tolerate any more conversation. “Never mention Blorch in my presence AGAIN or I will DESTROY YOU!”

“Oh, gee, Zim, sorry! I didn’t think-“

“SILENCE!! Your whiny sniveling voice ANNOYS ZIM! If your stupid little short self wishes to tag behind the almighty Zim, then be SILENT!” 

“Okay, Zim! I’ll be qui-“

“BE!! QUIET!!”

Skoodge finally closed his mouth, but his everlasting smile didn’t go away. Satisfied, Zim continued onward. They were close to the destination… and suddenly, something occurred to him. What if the device DOES work, and the Dib somehow uses reverse engineering to steal the idea from him!? Luckily, he thought ahead of time for such an event. He would just use his PAK to destroy the worm child! A simple solution for a simple problem.

Feeling confident in his plan, he arrived at the Dib’s home. As it was the middle of the afternoon, he was certain that the human would be away, doing something annoying, somewhere else. Using his PAK limbs to climb over the fence into the human’s back yard, he took out the device.

“Hey, Zim, I don’t mean to annoy you but… why are we at your friend’s house?” asked Skoodge. “Oh! I get it, you want to test the thing out with him, right?”

“Zim will offer you one final chance, you big moutheded fool,” snarled Zim as menacingly as he could. “either you remain silence forever more, or I personally will destroy you right here, right now.” His threat had no effect.

“LOOK! IT’S MARY!!” squealed GIR, pointing. “HE’S COME HOME, MASTERR! AND WITH HIS TWO FRIENNNDS!! OH, AND GUS!” His scream, unfortunately, caught the attention of those in question. Especially Dib’s.

“What the hell – Zim!? What are you doing in my yard!?” Dib shouted, running towards the fence gate.

“Is… that the alien that you were talking about?” whispered the one with the pine tree cap. “It’s-“

“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, FILTHY WORM!” Zim yelled back, sneering evilly. “You will not interfere this time!” He began to input coordinates into the device as quickly as he could manage. He seemed to have forgotten his plan about destroying Dib with his PAK.

“Get off my property, alien scum!” cried Dib as he climbed over his own fence. In the heat of the pursuit, he had forgotten to simply use his keys on the fence lock. As he jumped down from the top of the fence, Zim began to twist the dial clockwise. Directly behind Dib were the Pines twins, simply intent on watching the ordeal. Gaz, disinterested, just walked into the house and locked the door behind her.

“GIR, defensive mode! Don’t let the stink boy come near my dimensional hopping device!” ordered Zim urgently. GIR’s eyes flashed red, then immediately smashed into the window of Dib’s home. 

“Hey! You’re going to pay for that!!” Dib exclaimed. He then attempted to tackle the alien, to measuring degrees of success.

“Dimensional hopping device… Mabel! If we-“ Dipper began, then was abruptly cut off.

“DIPPER!! IT’S A CUTE ALIEN BOY! Omigosh, omigosh!” said Mabel, fanning herself.

“Time and place, Mabel, time and place!” said Dipper, frustrated. “Focus – we have to get that device from the alien!” He pointed at the two struggling boys, fighting each other desperately for the evil looking remote. Dib was sorely losing, entirely due to differences in physical strength and training. Then he noticed that next to the scene were two others standing by idly, including another alien that looked eerily similar to the one Dib was interlocked in combat right now. He shook his head. Bystanders were not important now.

Stalking towards the ensuing brawl, Dipper looked around for the remote to see if it had been dropped in the scuffle. Mabel, being Mabel, loudly cheered on both contestants and was ignored by all. 

“Oh, hey, you,” said a very polite voice. “um, if you’re looking for Zim’s dimensional hopping device thing, it’s right there.” The other alien pointed towards a patch of grass where the remote indeed was.

“Uh… thank you, alien,” replied Dipper, feeling confused. “aren’t you supposed to be helping the other alien though?”

“Oh! Darn, you’re right, sorry…” he mumbled, mortified. “wait – I’m supposed to tell you that I’m not an alien. Erm, I’m human, just like you.”

“Don’t… worry about it, it was kind of obvious just by looking at you,” replied Dipper, gingerly picking up the remote. The control scheme looked very similar to the dog bone device. There also seemed to be coordinates already entered. He just hoped that they were the right ones.

“Oh…” said Skoodge, seemingly downtrodden. “well… Good luck with whatever you’re doing.” He turned towards the tiny floating purple moose toy. “Hey, Minimoose, when do you think they’re going to notice that the device is gone?”

“Nyah…” it squeaked passively.

“WHAT!? WHO TOOK IT!? MY DIMENSION HOPPING THINGY!! WHERE IS IT! WHOOOO IS THE THIEEEFF!” screeched Zim, almost immediately after the adorable Minimoose squeak. He had completely defeated Dib, and violently kicked the boy aside. Then he spotted Dipper holding the thingy. His eyes narrowed in pure rage. Dipper gulped.

“YOUUU!!!” he shrieked, pointing damningly at the thief. “For this crime against the almighty Zim, YOU WILL BE DESTROYED IMMINENTLY!” From his PAK sprouted mechanical spider legs which hoisted him from the ground. With one limb, mustering all of his strength, he attempted to spear through the boy. Doing a swift half-roll, Dipper barely managed to dodge the stab, which smashed into the ground and caused several cracks to appear. Raising it to try again, Dipper had no choice but to turn the dial as if his life depended on it, which it did. 

The force that the portal exerted upon coming into existence knocked Zim off balance, so he retracted the limbs before he fell on them. The portal, this time, was not a bright blue swirly vortex like the one previous. Instead, this one was a dark, yet pleasant purple that swirled extremely quickly in a clockwise motion. And, also unlike the previous portal, this one started sucking them towards it with an irresistible force. Skoodge, Mabel and Minimoose immediately flew into the vortex, while Dipper, Dib, and Zim resisted. Unfortunately, the grass they were all holding onto ripped off, so like the others, they flew in.

Gaz and GIR, whom were watching from inside the house, shrugged it off.

“D’you have the Angry Monkey Show on dis TV?” asked GIR, without a care in the world.

“Not that I care, but didn’t your stupid friends just get sent into that portal?” responded Gaz, raising an eyebrow at the little android. GIR just smiled blankly at her, then shoved a squeaky moose toy into her face. Waving it around and squeaking it a few times, he giggled maniacally as Gaz grew immediately pissed off.

Picking up the robot by its stupid little dog ear, she ripped open the door to the backyard and threw him directly into the portal. Unfortunately, by opening the door, that made her vulnerable to the pulling as well. Relatively surprised, she instantly flew into the portal like the rest of them.

Immediately afterwards, the portal closed and caused an enormous explosion which destroyed the Membrane home. Professor Membrane, who would come home several hours later, would be quite upset at this discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably won't write the next chapter until next week, as in like Wednesday or something. I've been skimpin' out on my work, and I really need to get it done. So, please expect it by then, or a day or two after! Oh, and, please review or comment or somethin'! I would really appreciate some feedback, because I need to know if I am writing the characters correctly. Thank you very much! =]


	5. Dimension Hoppin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL turns out it took a little longer than I expected to write this. Whatevs!! Anyways, I worked really hard on this one! I hope you like it!

DIMENSION OF PROBABLY BETTER STUFF THAN WHAT WE HAVE

 

Sun filtered through leaves, shining angelically upon the group of unconscious beings. The air was clean, birds chirped lovely tunes, and the green grass swayed in the refreshing breeze. A lone leaf detached from a nearby tree and flittered peacefully onto the face of a certain alien, who jumped to his feet with a start. Instantly seeing the bodies scattered about close by, he shrieked in alarm then sought to compose himself. New dimension. Portal. Right. He looked to the idiot human worm child in the hat and saw that his device was completely intact. Wonderful! Obviously due to his own genius and ingenuity.

Nearby, a bush rustled. Zim instantly snapped his gaze to the source of the noise, and found that it belonged to the short idiot freeloader. Brushing himself off, Skoodge saw Zim and grinned innocuously. 

“Hey, Zim!” began Skoodge, without a care in the world. “Wow, nice place you brought us to! I didn’t know you wanted to go on a picnic so bad. If you just asked, I would’ve-“ 

“SILENCE! You pea-headed stink brain, we could be SURROUNDED by danger and you JUST START YELLING!?” he yelled, arms flailing in an attempt to convey his frustration. “AT THIS RATE, ALL OF THE WORM MONKEYS WILL STIR AND CAUSE MY INGENIOUS PLAN TO GO AWRY!”

His yelling, of course, caused the rest of the group to awaken. 

“Oh, sorry, you’re right,” Skoodge said, lowering his volume. “Hey, can I be in on your plan? I think I could really help, if you told me what to do!”

“NO! Zim’s plans are too incredible for ones with brains as small as yours to comprehend. Your short self will only get in the way.”

“Right! You got it, Zim! I’ll just-“

“Hey, can you morons shut up? Your voices make me sick.”

The pair of Irkens looked over at the voice. The scary girl, Gaz, was awake and scowling menacingly at them. Skoodge, aware of the danger, hid behind Zim. Zim responded by kicking him with force enough to send him flying into a tree. Waking up near her was the big-headed boy and his two unnoticeable friends. Already awake and watching the scene was Minimoose and GIR. 

“Oww… Okay, idiot. Mind telling us what the plan was this time?” grumbled Dib. “You know, besides being a huge jerk and sending us all to another dimension?”

“Like I’d tell YOU,” said Zim, covering up that he really had no plan at all. “Foolish Dib-beast, for the almighty Zim to impart such knowledge is a privilege that is NOT AVAILABLE TO YOU!!!”

“Yeah, whatever. Anyways, why were you at my house? That’s weird, even for you.”

“Ohh, you silly, silly human. Zim was merely… testing his scheme.”

“Did it have to be at my house, though?”

“YES! IT DID! Now be QUIET! Zim wants none of this questioning.”

Rolling his eyes, Dib turned around to see that everyone was listening in to their conversation. It’d be hard to do anything else. Feeling the scrutinizing gaze of Dib on him, Dipper awkwardly gave a half wave with the hand that held the remote.

“Uh…” he said awkwardly, presenting the device to Dib. “I-I don’t think that this sent us to the… right place.” Zim ran to intercept and aggressively snatched the device from his grubby little stink hands.

“GET your FILTHY HYYYUUUUMAN hands OFF MY INGENIUS CREATION!” he spat, hostility leaking from every pore. Or whatever alternative Irkens had to pores. “You should be GRATEFUL that Zim does not DESTROY you RIGHT NOW for what you have done! BE GRATEFUL! GROVEL TO MY SUPERIORITY!”

Dipper did not grovel, but was then pushed aside by an eager Mabel. Eyes twinkling with glee, she panted creepily as she took in the view of the alien. Zim was understandably repulsed.

“Hiiiii...” she slurred, having just woken up. “You’re cute!”

Dib did a spit take, while Zim quickly backed away. Cute??

“Uh, Mabel, that’s very direct…” whispered Dipper, nonplussed. “Maybe tone it down until we get home… uh, speaking of which…”

Walking up to the alien, he gently moved Mabel aside. Zim watched him suspiciously, eye twitching.

“I’m sorry, uh, alien, she’s like that to every boy she meets,” he explained. “Um, anyways, uh, where did the device take us to?”

“That’s right, YOU were the one that…” growled Zim, rage building. He began to scream at such a volume that everyone in the vicinity, save the robots, had to cover their ears. “YOU ARE THE THIEF THAT STOLE ZIM’S DEVICE! AND YOU SAY THAT YOU DID NOT KNOW HOW IT WORK! You will be DESTROYED IMMINENTLY FOR THIS!!”

He then continued to berate the poor boy with insults that made little sense for quite a few minutes. Mabel, who was overcome with boredom, saw that a short, ugly alien arrived on scene. She smiled brightly at him, who returned the favor. He was covered in leaves. 

“Hi! I’m Mabel,” she said, above the volume of the other screeching alien. “I saw you together with that cute alien!”

“Hello, I’m Skoodge,” he responded, completely drowned out by the surrounding noise. “Me and Zim are-“

“WHAAAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!” she shouted in an ear destroying manner. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”

“I-it’s Skoodge, hi,” he said again, slightly louder.

“WHAAT?” 

“It’s-“

Suddenly, Zim stopped screeching. Everyone looked over. Next to him was Gaz, who had just sucker punched him in the squeedlyspooch. He was doubled over in pain.

“Be quiet,” she growled. Everyone went quiet. She faced Zim angrily. “You. Moron. Tell me where we are right now, or I’m going to rip off that stupid backpack you have on.”

“W-we are in the dimension of,” he paused, coughing loudly. Once he caught his breath, he restarted. “We are in the dimension of better stuff than we have!” He did not want to get punched again by the scary girl. Or get his PAK ripped off. 

“Better stuff than we have? Are you serious?” she asked in a mocking tone. “THAT’S the name of it? Or are you just so stupid that you don’t know the name and made it up on the spot?” She raised her fist, threatening to punch him again. He flinched.

“It is true! That is the dimension, yes. I call it that because it has better stuff than we have.”

PUNCH! Gaz walked away, leaving Zim to suffer from the new injury on the grassy ground. She then promptly sat on a log close by. Dipper hadn’t properly had time to investigate his surroundings, and did so now. They appeared to be in a beautiful enclosed clearing inside of the lightly wooded forest. He hadn’t noticed that it was now wonderfully temperate, and that he was not shivering any longer. Then, with a start, he saw the green dog from earlier. It was attempting to eat a squirrel alive.

“Mabel, look!” he whispered to her, catching her attention. “It’s the weird thing in the dog costume from earlier.” He pointed at it. It swallowed the squirrel whole, headfirst. “So, if I had to take a guess, I’d say that the owner is the alien.”

“Whoa, hey, so it is!” she exclaimed. “Omigosh, do you know what this means?”

“Uh, I’m afraid to ask…” 

“It means that both the owner and the dog are super duper cute! This can’t get any better! Imagine dating him-“

Dib, who was eavesdropping, decided to cut in at this moment.

“Excuse me, but do you not remember the thing I told you at MacMeaties?” he asked incredulously. “Y’know, about the part where he’s basically a super villain?”

“Pfft, party pooper. Being a super villain doesn’t mean that he isn’t a super cutie!”

“I have absolutely no idea why you are complimenting him.”

“Cos you have no taste! Right, Dipper?”

“Please don’t bring me into this.”

“Pshaw, whatever! Both of you are a bunch of downers! Lighten up!”

At the same time, both Dib and Dipper face palmed. How could she act like this in this situation? Dib decided to look over at Zim to see what he was doing. No longer in pain due to swift damage repair courtesy of his PAK, he was tinkering with the device. He seemed to be frustrated about something, but that was not unusual for him.

“Hey, space scum,” said Dib, walking towards him. “What was that you said about this dimension being better than our own?”

“Zim sees no reason to tell you anything,” he responds, not looking up. “You disturb my work. Begone.” Dib’s eyes widened slightly. Short, curt responses, without any insults. There was definitely something wrong.

“Work? Did the device break or something?” he asked, folding his arms. 

“I will not repeat. Begone.”

“Listen, you thick headed space freak, if that thing is broken, it kind of affects all of us.”

“Zim is well aware.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Still not looking up, Zim took out a tool that looked similar to a screwdriver from his PAK. Dib took this as an invitation to check out what was the issue. There was nothing obviously wrong, but there was scrawling text on the little screen, which was all in Irken. Dib, unfortunately, could only read bits and pieces of it from what he studied before. A word he has seen often appeared – the Irken word for ‘error.’

“This is the wrong dimension,” Zim muttered as quietly as he could. 

“Wrong dimension? So, where are we instead?” Dib asked bluntly.

“Zim… does not know,” he admitted. “All the calculations were correct, it must be some outside interference…”

“Right. Outside interference. That’s always what it is, because it’s never your fault, isn’t it? Yeah, whatever. You better fix this fast.”

“Silence!”

And so, they both fell silent. GIR, Minimoose, Skoodge, and Mabel were involved in a super duper serious conversation about non topical things. They were all getting along splendidly. Dipper, on the other hand, had been listening to Dib and Zim quarrel. He was worried about his and Mabel’s safety, of course, but there was nothing that he could do. So, he simply sat and waited for the alien to finish repairing the device. Despite the welcoming nature of this dimension, he did not feel safe anymore. 

Dib gave up on talking to the alien and took a seat on the ground. Despite what he had said, there was a nagging doubt that plagued his mind. Something wasn’t right. Zim seemed utterly sincere, which he almost never was unless threatening him or his planet. There was a feeling that something really did mess with the device, and not just the space-time rip caused by dimension hopping without proper precautions. No, there was definitely something… something otherworldly going on.

 

AN INDETERMINATE AMOUNT OF TIME LATER… 

 

“It is DONE!!” suddenly shouted Zim, holding the device as high as he could in the air. Everyone, who was on the verge of falling asleep sans Minimoose and Skoodge, perked up at the sound. It looked no different than before.

“Took you long enough,” muttered Dib, attempting to stand up. However, something prevented him. He struggled as hard as he could, but he was held down. Frantically, he investigated the source. The grass! It was wrapped around his limbs! Quickly surveying his surroundings, he saw that everyone else was in a similar predicament. 

Everyone soon realized that they were being held captive by the grass, even Gaz, where it was wrapped tightly around her ankles. Instantly, controlled chaos ensued. Everyone was trying to rip at the blades to no avail. Zim, who had been rooted to one spot while repairing the device, tried to destroy it with his PAK legs. Unfortunately, that also failed. Everything that the group threw at the grass did nothing to even slightly damage it. Suddenly, Skoodge of all people had an idea.

“Minimoose!” he called out to the floating toy. “You’re Vortian made! You can probably destroy this green stuff!”

“Nyah!” it squeaked, producing disproportionately massive weapons from its tiny body. As it took aim at Skoodge’s feet, he realized a bit too late that it might have been a little dangerous.

“Er, M-Minimoose, please go easy-“

His plea was cut off by a rather loud laser beam that immediately vaporized the carnivorous grass that was latched onto him. Content, he told Minimoose to do the same with the rest of the group. Soon afterwards, without much discussion, they were all free. The surrounding area was in charred ruins, producing an acrid smoke that burned their lungs. It very much so displeased Zim. Unfortunately, by destroying everything around them, that left them all vulnerable to the intensely bright sunlight.

“Zim! Use the portal thingy now!” croaked Dib, noticing that wherever the sunlight touched, it burned. In fact, GIR, who has been atop a tree eating acorns and squirrels, was scorched black. 

“IT BURNS!!” he screamed excitedly, discarding his doggy costume. Now, the mystery twins had a proper look at the little android. Dipper wasn’t very surprised, but was still intrigued. Mabel, however, was taken aback, for what she thought was a dog… was not! Gaz, who was spacing out on the log, snapped back to reality.

“I thought you said that this was the ‘better stuff than we have’ dimension,” she growled, cracking open an eye to glare at Zim. “If you’re so stupid that you can’t even use your own machines, I’ll take it instead.” With that, she stomped towards him, unflinching at the burning light, and snatched the device from his claws with almost no resistance.

Treating the device like a video game, she typed in random coordinates, turned the dial counterclockwise, and opened a new portal. This portal was a dull chartreuse in color and swirled wildly. It seemed unstable and was wobbling about in place, seemingly unable to keep a constant shape. Releasing crackling bolts of energy, it seemed too dangerous to voluntarily go in. However, that choice was not left up to them, and they were all sucked in like a black hole.

 

DIMENSION OF DARKNESS OR SOMETHING

 

Gaz does not usually regret anything she does. Well, maybe except for leaving her stupid brother alive. This, however, was a decision that she regretted. Immediately upon entering the portal, she lost her ability to breathe and to see. It was like being at the bottom of the ocean. There was so much pressure that she was completely unable to move even a single muscle. Choking on the nothingness, she lost grip on the device and it floated aimlessly away.

The rest of the group, as far as she knew, was in the same situation. Everyone save Zim and the robots (and her) had lost consciousness upon entry. Gaz fought valiantly against the oncoming sleep, but her body could no longer cope with the conditions. She passed out. 

Zim, who did not need to breathe due to his PAK, was freaking out. That foolish Earth monkey! They were all going to die, most importantly him, because of her stupidness! All of his senses were completely muffled, and he could not see where the device was. Eventually, both he and Skoodge lost consciousness as well. 

GIR, sensing something amiss, located the device and took it from the air. Why was everyone just floating around? Why were they all sleeping? Is there a slumber party going on? So silly! However, when he tried to express his excitement, no sound came out. Oh well. Screaming can always come later!

Losing any sense of sanity, he rapidly bashed in random keys on the device and turned the dial clockwise. Out of the pointy shooty end of the device popped another portal, this one even more wild than the last. The colors shifted unpredictably in shades that humans could not detect. To a human, it would look silver. Luckily for everyone, they did not die in a frozen vacuum, and were all sucked into the next portal.

 

DIMENSION OF ???

 

Everyone, still unconsciousness, were thrown violently into a world of complete abstractness. Their surroundings were deliciously ploink in smell, and they could probably hear all the pretty colors that shifted in and out of reality. Or… something. Was this reality?

GIR giggled maniacally, fascinated by all of the indescribable madness. He looked everywhere, drinking in everything. This dimension… was PERFECT!! The remote left his paws and twirled a elegant little twirl, and started talking to him.

“Hakindsjask,” it warbled. Those sounds were funny! GIR didn’t understand what it said, but laughed anyways. It laughed with him. It didn’t really make sound, no… Its voice merely appeared in his head. “Wjuhgijkds?” Its form began to bend, surrounding the little android. 

“Hugguuggguggg?” asked GIR. It constricted him lightly, like a hug, then warped into a flat triangle. It was two dimensional. GIR was having too much fun, and tried to dance alongside the newly formed shape. However, he was interrupted by something. A green blob bumped into him. When he turned around to dance with the blob instead, it splashed into liquid. 

“GIIIRRRRR!!!!” the liquid squorched, its voice changing colors midflight. “RRRRRREMMOOOOTEEE!!!!”

GIR laughed as hard as he could. This was so unbelievably funny! His laughter covered the entire dimension. Then, he laughed some more, because hearing his own laugh played back at him a schmillion times and a half was even more funny. Then, unfamiliar laughter joined in. Trillions of them. A purple shape floated nearby and collided with a group of pale shapes. They all exploded into gas! Then immediately reformed as shapes. A high pitched, nasally voice cut through the madness.

“Newcomers, huh?” the voice said clearly, without a source. “Well, well, welly well, if it isn’t Pine Tree.” The voice formed. It was yellow. “And who could forget lil old Shooting Star? Looking a little green around the gills, aren’t we?” The blobs he addressed turned green, as if to his command.

“HIIHIIIIHIIIIHIIIIHIII!” GIR shouted. The yellow voice grew a single eye to look at the still-normal shaped robot.

“Still formed?” it asked, unblinking. “That deserves a reward! Here, have a bat-quet!” In a space relatively close to GIR appeared a bundle of gaseous baseball bats, held together by a human mouth. When the bats flew away in a flurry, the mouth opened to scream. The scream shook the entire dimension. GIR was giggling madly, and the yellow-shaped voice was cackling alongside him. Then the mouth was viscerally ripped out of reality.

“Jsfduwnfdndfdg,” quipped the device, wrapping gently around GIR once more. Apparently, what it said irritated the yellow-shaped voice, so it formed a glowing black arm and snapped its fingers. The device transformed back into what it used to be. GIR was deeply saddened for precisely a moment and a half, then returned to his jolly state.

“That guy was just the worst, right?” it said. Then, its eye shifted about to look at the blobs. “Anyways, I don’t need you guys in here muddying up my plans. Better hightail it, so you can see some REAL carnage in that little town down there.” It formed a second arm, and rubbed its hands together. GIR attempted to do the same, but found that he couldn’t move. “Alright, get outta here!”

With a snap of its fingers, the entire group exited that plane of nonexistence. 

 

HOME

 

With a thud, the group hit the grassy ground. The humans were wide awake, gasping for the breath that they so dearly missed. Even Gaz was on her hands and knees, trying to intake as much air as she could into her oxygen-starved lungs. The Irkens were in the process of being revived by their PAKs, and Minimoose took to the air again, floating in place. GIR, who was the only witness to the events that had just transpired, immediately forgot everything that happened. He scooped up some dirt and shoved it into his mouth.

It was a while before anyone could start speaking. Cracking open his eyes, the first thing Dipper saw was an old gnome about to poke his cheek with a stick. Alarmed, he yelped and jumped to his feet. It scampered off on all fours into some bushes nearby. Bewildered, he suddenly identified the gnome as… Shmebulock!?

“What…” he croaked unsteadily, still recovering from that little adventure in the realm of abstract. He attempted to stand up, but his legs were shaking too much so he fell. However, he did not fall too far, as he was intercepted by Minimoose, the bystander. 

“Nyah!” it squeaked indignantly. He hadn’t really noticed it before. He just thought that it was just a toy or something that the chubby alien kept around.

“Uh… squeak to you too?” he mumbled awkwardly. 

“Nyah!!” it squeaked again. Although it didn’t seem to be able to make facial expressions, he could somehow tell that it was angry.

“Erm, sorry for falling on you, man.”

“Nyah.”

Studying the purple moose toy thing closely, he didn’t notice that everyone else had gotten up and were brushing themselves off. The chubby alien that was usually around it walked up to the pair, smiling and waving politely.

“Oh, hello!” he greeted. “That was a bit of a doozy, wasn’t it?”

“Um, sure, it was.”

“Oh, right! Silly me, I forgot. I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I’m Skoodge, Zim’s best friend. And also, I’m not an alien.”

“You don’t… you don’t have to try and cover up the obvious, it’s fine. Um, anyways, hi. I’m… Dipper.”

“Ohh, I get it! You must be one of those smart humans, like that large-headed kid!”

“Uh, gee… thanks.”

And so, the awkward conversation was left at a standstill. Skoodge simply smiled grandly while Dipper tried his best to return the gesture. Minimoose did nothing save for float some more. Being unable to bear the it for a second longer, he looked away to see what the others were up to. Mabel was stretching and trying to pick something out of her braces, Dib was having a one-sided conversation with his scary sister, and the small alien was… lamenting. 

Taking a closer look, he saw that the device the alien was holding was broken into several smoking pieces. Then, it exploded, leaving nothing but ash in his hands instead. The alien screeched in fury and violently threw the ashes as hard as he could, but because there was a breeze, it blew the ashes right into his eyes. That made him even more furious, and he blindly began to hop in place, hoping to crush something. His little tantrum brought the attention of Dib.

“You know, even though watching stuff blow up in your face is funny,” he said, miraculously uninjured after his exchange with Gaz. “What you’re doing right now is just sad. Throwing a tantrum just cause your… device…” The realization dawned suddenly upon him. “Your…….. dimensional hopping…. device… broke…”

“YOU STUPID HEADED MONKEY! YOU WORM!! SILENCE!! I DEMAND SILENCE NOW!! FILTH! FILTH!!”

Zim was unbelievably distraught. This whole day has been just horrible for him, and his plans were ruined. Now, he lost his device and any way to repair it. And, not to mention, he was stuck in a random dimension that he knew nothing about WITH HIS ARCH NEMESIS! Of course, there were the other humans and the insufferable freeloader too, but nothing was worse than being trapped with the one being that he hated more than any other. Stupid, stinking, meddling pig-beasts! 

He stomped around a little more to alleviate the pent up rage. He hardly even noticed when the scary girl was fast approaching. He did, however, notice when he was kicked forcefully in the squeedlyspooch.

“I hate whiners,” she stated simply. 

With that, the rest of the group seemed unsure on how to progress. On one hand, this dimension seemed rather familiar to Dipper and Mabel, but on the other… They still had the crazies in tow. This was indeed troubling. Dipper looked to Mabel, who had been suspiciously quiet this entire time. Oh, that’s why. She had been silently gazing at the alien with an obvious crush, being creepy as usual. She took the opportunity of his recovery to slide over smoothly next to him.

“Hey… couldn’t help but notice…” she said confidently. “You’re… out of this world!” The grin she gave after that was exactly what the stupid line required to be complete. Unfortunately for her, Zim was too focused on his own misery that he didn’t pay any attention to her. Dib was also in a similar predicament, realizing his new fate. It was up to Dipper to provide commentary.

“Mabel, maybe now isn’t the best time to do this…” he pressed gently, moving her away from the awkward scene. “Wait – this looks familiar…” He recognized the clearing they were in. This was where-

“Hey!! We’re back home!” she shouted suddenly, cutting off his thoughts. But it was true – they were finally back in Gravity Falls. After about one single day of being gone. Great!

Overjoyed that they were finally home, Dipper felt practically dead on his feet. Though he was used to staying up overnight many a time, he wasn’t used to cross dimensional travel. He was too tired to remember that the journal was still in that evil dimension. Utterly relieved, he finally fell asleep… standing up. Mabel noticed and gave a tiny smile. She knew that she would have to take him back to the Shack, but was content with that. Her brother was light, anyways. She placed one of his arms around her so that she could begin to drag him, but was surprised when the other side was lifted as well. Looking over, she saw that Skoodge was helping her. He beamed proudly.

“Come on, everybody!” he called, motioning to the rest of the group to come with. “Looks like Mabel knows a good spot for a picnic!”

And so, everyone followed the trio towards the Mystery Shack, even the whining alien and the big-headed human having a crisis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, looks like a plot is actually starting to form!! Who was that devious yellow-shaped guy!? You all know!! Obviously! Spooooky! -waggles fingers- Anyways, please comment! I literally have no idea what I'm doing, so any feedback would be muuuuuuch appreciated! Seriously! I have no beta readers or anyone that can tell me if I'm doin' it right! 'Course, no harm done if you don't. It's just... APPRECIATED!!!! if you do.


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